Bombs Away!: Dramatic First-hand Accounts of British and Commonwealth Bomber Aircrew in WWII

by Martin W. Bowman

This is a unique selection of wide-ranging experiences of British and Commonwealth Bomber Command aircrew during World War II. Their endearing bravery and fortitude and sometimes their despondency and cynicism, shows through in these stirring, daring, often irreverent, humorous and sometimes sardonic but memorable stories. All reflect the ethos, camaraderie, fear and bravery of the largely ordinary men, most of whom were plucked from ‘civvy street’ and thrust into a frightening, bitter conflict which was made even more dangerous by the lethal advance of technology.

Death would normally come from an anonymous assassin, either in the black of night, or from behind a cloud or out of the sun, or simply from the Flak gunner on the ground. And, if all this was not enough, the often unmerciful weather was no respecter of mortality. There was no escaping the all-embracing shock wave that rippled through the bomber squadrons after a heavy mauling over enemy territory. Nothing could be more poignant than the vacuous places at tables in the depleted mess halls, the empty locker of the departed, or the dog pining by the barracks for its missing master. Each man had to deal with tragedy in his own inimitable way. Some hid their feelings better than others did only for the pain to resurface months or even years later. Some who had survived the physical pressures and who completed their tours then succumbed to the mental torture that had eaten away at their psyche during the incessant and interminable onslaught day after day, night after night. There was little respite. The valorous men of Bomber Command were, in turn, the Light Brigade, the stop gap, the riposte, the avengers, the undefeated. Always, they were expendable.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2010

About the author

Martin W. Bowman is one of Britain's leading aviation authors, with over 100 published books on the Second World War and post-war aviation history, and several on the landscape of East Anglia. He has also established an international reputation for his superb imagery and aerial photography. He has a passion for flying in military aircraft. He lives in Norwich, Norfolk.

Reviews

[Nathan Trachta]

Aerial warfare has been a fascination of mine for years, more than I care to imagine. Over the past 10 to 15 years I've been reading about the British effort over German in WWII and found it fascinating because of the large number of missions and the terrible losses (in aircraft loss and crew survivability once an aircraft was lost). When I saw Bombs Away on the Pen and Sword publisher's page I was intrigued by the description and thoughts of expanding my knowledge a little more on the British effort appealing.

Bombs Away is an interesting mix; Mr. Bowman provides the setting and connection in each chapter and interleafs veteran's stories about the events surrounding the chapter. Some are rather short and direct while others are more focused on the bigger story of Bomber Command. Two interesting inclusion that I haven't read about in other books about the British bombing effort are the inclusion of Coastal Command and the light bombers that raided in daylight (love how they called the raids lead by A-20/Boston's Tea-parties). Focus is primarily on the 1940-1943 time-frame with the a few going into 1944. There's some excellent pictures included in two areas showing the crews, the aircraft, the damage they took and gave.

Rating wise this one wasn't as strong as I was hoping for. Part of the reason is Mr. Bowman's work is being compared to Mr. Middlebrook's and I'm a fan of Mr. Middlebrooks work (one of the best accounts I've read is Mr. Middlebrook's Cassell Military Classics: The Battle of Hamburg: The Firestorm Raid (Cassell Military Paperbacks) or Nuremburg Raid, The: 30-31 March 1944). While Mr. Bowman opened some new doors (Coastal Command and British light bombers) for me, I couldn't help but feel he short sold things a little bit. Most of his focus is on the Battle of the Ruhr and he never touches Hamburg (a watershed for Bomber Command), Berlin, or Nuremburg. By limiting himself to the Ruhr campaign I feel he limited our experience of these other great raids. I did enjoy his inclusion of Coastal Command and the light bombers, something I haven't seen included with the British bombing effort, and while he did a great job with Coastal Command (two very nice chapters, one on anti-submarine efforts, another on anti-maritime efforts) he once more short sold the light bomber chapter by including so much on the fighter sweeps that accompanied the Bostons. Because of this and just not feeling sucked into the book I'll call this one 3.5 stars that doesn't rise to the 4 star level. A nice piece to have, but not a must have.